How ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’ shaped the second half of George Harrison’s career
When we talk about the break-up of The Beatles, the discourse seems to often centres around John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
So much is made over their respective rivalry and the subsequent liberation from such, when they split, that George Harrison and Ringo Starr’s careers are left in the doldrums of discourse. This feels particularly criminal when viewed through the lens of the former, who, from 1966 onwards, showed that he was becoming perhaps the most interesting Beatle of all.
Following his expedition to India and creative awakening under the stewardship of Ravi Shankar, Harrison returned to the band as a potent songwriter. The sheer genius of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’ all sat within the depths of his creative psyche and were ready to be given the well-deserved spotlight.
But the toxicity that we remark as heavy for Lennon and McCartney was clearly as impactful for him, given just how brilliant some of these songs he had up his sleeve. Let’s not forget that it was Harrison who led the charge to stop touring in the mid part of the 1960s, and so it’s not hard to believe that he was the most sensitive of all musicians in the band.
The spiralling drama that caused the band to part ways at the end of the decade would have affected him equally, if not more than the others. So, come the start of a new decade, it was no surprise to see him deliver the album that is most likely the best Beatle solo record of all.
All Things Must Pass was the sound of a liberated Harrison, exercising his own ideas in the spiritual and philosophical realm, while showcasing his natural talent for sonic arrangement. Sure, it was arguably a little too long, but as I’ve just passionately outlined, this was a songwriter set free from the shackles of a supporting role. This quite literally was the sound of an artist sharing all the ideas that had stewed away in a cauldron of creativity for years.
Buoyed by this creative freedom, Harrison made a triumphant return to the stage just one year on from All Things Must Pass. No longer subjected to the expectations of being part of The Beatles, Harrison staged The Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden. The benefit concert in aid of refugees following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide and the 1970 Bhola cyclone offered Harrison an unfiltered opportunity to combine his philanthropy and music, in what was a triumphant show in both senses. It raised approximately $250,000 on gate receipts and a reported $ million from later album sales.
But underneath that grew a desire to tour again. The Beatle who had once had enough with live shows altogether, made an almighty comeback to the stage.
“He was definitely inspired after Bangladesh,” said Billy Preston. “He wanted to do it again, right away. But it took some time. Bangladesh was an exceptional show because everybody was there. He had to do a lot of thinking on this one, because he had to get out there and be the one.”
What came after was at least two decades of liberation for Harrison. Be it as a solo artist or part of The Traveling Wilburys, he came into his own and exercised the sense of creative freedom he earned. Dare I say it, it may have been the purple patch of his career.
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